(long story) Sold car, now owner wants to go small-claims

[thomas91169]

I was just in the OTHER guy's shoes. I'm not saying you're a liar, I'm saying the guy who sold me my car was a liar.

I was looking at buying a car. I asked the seller a bunch of questions and based on the questions I bought the car. After inspecting the car more thoroughly I called the seller back and tried to work out a deal. Either fixing the things that he lied about or buying back the car. After a few months of waiting it out I took him to small claims court.

I for sure thought I was going to lose but I went anyway. He filled out a bill of sale for $100 while I actually paid $1800 cash. I had no proof I paid $1800 cash. I was able to explain my side of the story and was awarded a $750 judgement. The sheriff is currently collecting the money from his employer.

I really wish people would only give advice when they have experience in the situation. "This guy has no chance, etc" when they have never been through the situation. I've been there, I've done that and here's my story.

yeah i never made any claim to its reliability. I simply stated that i did make a few medium duration trips in it to see how it would fare. He knew other guys were coming from equal or farther distances with trailers, and knew he had to beat them to the vehicle, no matter what it took. If i could see into the future, i wouldnt be selling a $1500 pos mitsubishi thats for damn sure.

If im responsible for what happens to the vehicle after it drives away, then i never agreed to let them "fix" it or ring up a $3k repair bill, so yeah, i aint paying shit. Im my own mechanic, i fix it myself after searching the issues on countless DSM sites and usually finding the answer within 5min of searching (same with mostly any car following nowadays).

I totally want to help this kid fix it, dont get me wrong. I know its something stupid and simple (standard DSM methodology) but im not paying a dime. Its a DSM, he needs to learn how to work on it himself, or else this wont be his last humongous retarded bill for something stupid and simple. But i cant help if hes not willing to tell me the issues and why its in a "shop" for the past 2 months, which makes it really "scam" sounding, especially since its a "family" friend's shop. Smells like bullshit the more and more i think of it, i wonder how many people get jipped like this because they feel bad after selling a car.

 

[Quik Z06]

Well Thomas, I say let him go to small claims. I don think he will win, if he even takes it to court at all. Even if he did, im sure they would accept payments, I wouldn't pay his ass all at once, I would spread it out as long as I could.

 

[Tampa03cobra]

I wish you the best of luck. Since you live in California, hopefully you won't go before a judge that has some kind of political axe to grind over you selling a car that doesn't meet smog.

Like Adam said at the beginning, I sincerely doubt this guy is going to file anything against you. His case seems flimsy at best.

Worst case you do end up in court:

Just make sure you have all your paperwork in order, and if you go before the judge calmly present your case in a rational manner. Make sure you address the judge with the proper respect and make sure you don't mumble or appear shaken, it hurts your credibility.

Many of these types of cases seem to come down to who the judge deems to be the more credible person, as there are many cases where there is no real way to confirm or deny certain claims made by either party,

Oh and one more thing, I ask every judge I meet what their big court room pet peeve is, I would say about 95% of them said; when people don't look them in the eye when they speak. It's considered disrespectful you know!

 

[thomas91169]

Well Thomas, I say let him go to small claims. I don think he will win, if he even takes it to court at all. Even if he did, im sure they would accept payments, I wouldn't pay his ass all at once, I would spread it out as long as I could.

if by some chance they rule that i am responsible even after signing the vehicle over to him in a running condition, then i will move to the stance where "since i am responsible for the car, then i did not accept any work to be done to the vehicle, so a repair bill is now moot." If by some reason my responsibility in the car doesnt end until he pulls up in his driveway, then i never accepted any work to be done on the vehicle.

 

[FordSVTFan]

if by some chance they rule that i am responsible even after signing the vehicle over to him in a running condition, then i will move to the stance where "since i am responsible for the car, then i did not accept any work to be done to the vehicle, so a repair bill is now moot." If by some reason my responsibility in the car doesnt end until he pulls up in his driveway, then i never accepted any work to be done on the vehicle.

If the court were to find that way, which is quite unlikely based on your representations, contract remedies would be considered under the U.C.C. However, your approach would not be in line with the remedies available under the U.C.C.

 

[thomas91169]

If the court were to find that way, which is quite unlikely based on your representations, contract remedies would be considered under the U.C.C. However, your approach would not be in line with the remedies available under the U.C.C.

lol i feel like the caveman in the geico commercial after reading that, "Umm, what?"

I guess it would be important to know that the UCC is.

 

[FordSVTFan]

lol i feel like the caveman in the geico commercial after reading that, "Umm, what?"

I guess it would be important to know that the UCC is.

Uniform Commercial Code, which covers the sale of goods (yes it applies to non-commercial sales).

 

[Niks97cobra]

Sounds like he is a tool and got owned.